Communications

Having just attended the well-attended PMI Risk Symposium a couple of weeks ago, this topic is so appropriate for our current economic environment.  Many of you are doing some type of Risk Management already.  What I hope to do is to provoke your thoughts that could help increase your project or program success.
There were SO [...]

In my last blog I mentioned that I recently received a job offer at a new company.  This started me thinking about what is my plan for getting started at the new job, so today I figured I’d share my thoughts and maybe it will help you or maybe you’ll have some feedback for me.

Technorati [...]

Recently, like all too many people these days, I found myself in the position of needing to find a new job.  Now before you give up on this blog I promise not to rant on about how bad things are; rather I’ll talk about a topic that came to mind while I was preparing for [...]

The new PMBOK(R) Guide has a new process called Identify Stakeholders.
As a person invloved with creating PMP(R) Exam study materials as well as developing and delivering PM courseware, I always want to keep my material up-to-date with the latest PMBOK(R) Guide.  Of course, this means searching for practical examples from organizations and real applications.  Sometimes, [...]

B. W. Tuckman discovered that teams go through development stages beginning with the forming stage and ending with the adjourning stage. Just after a new team is formed it usually migrates into the “storming” stage where conflict develops over how it is going to reach its team goal, how its members are going to work together efficiently, and [...]

What’s panache? Its your distinction style. You know project managers who have a special sense of dash, verve, or flair? They seem to consistently pull off tough conversations with apparent ease and confidence. And they get noticed and get recognition and respect.

Properly managed project documentation is critical for all types and sizes of projects. After all, the project documentation is the only real output from most projects. It is not the prototype that matters. It is the production documentation that includes things such as material lists, part drawings, assembly instructions, diagnostics, and source code [...]

In this final part of my series on communications in virtual teams, I will discuss the most important medium to evolve so far during the computer revolution: e-mail.  Pretty much everyone has an e-mail address these days, and many of us have several.  E-mail is the primary information channel in corporations across the globe.  It [...]

In this part of the series on optimizing virtual team communications, I’ll cover Instant Messaging, or IM as it is commonly called.  IM has evolved a great deal from the early consumer versions in the mid 90’s. It is now recognized as an important additional channel of communications in the corporate world, filling a hole [...]

In part one of this series I talked about the problems with speakerphones in virtual teams. In this installment, I’ll discuss the problems with another type of phone, the Cell.
Most modern cell phones have a built-in speakerphone feature, and will therefore also have the problems mentioned in the previous article when used in this mode. [...]

We all know that effective communication is critical to every well-executed project. Everyone involved in getting that next product to market must constantly exchange bits of information with many people. Everything from project proposals to release-to-manufacturing documents must be created, discussed, edited, reviewed, approved and distributed. All of these information exchanges require clear communication for [...]

A great way to establish a sense of urgency around the priority work and to produce a way to celebrate real wins is the use of campaigns.  Campaigns come in a variety of models; the most effective, in my view, are those designed similar to political campaigns: to win the hearts and minds of constituents.  [...]

The real power of a corporate vision is realized only when everyone in the organization clearly understands the vision and recognizes how everyone contributes to its success.  This is particularly true when project managers are assigned to successfully manage those projects that are most important to the company’s future success.  And yet, for most organizations, [...]

The applause was thundering as the magician completed his performance. Proman A. Jecgert had hired the magician to help celebrate the completion of what would come to be called Phase One. The party included all participants across the organization. The grove in the trees was a perfect setting, and the sun shone [...]

 
OK here is the scenario – Do you pass the “ink blot test”??.
It is Friday afternoon on the day before a holiday weekend. You are on the telephone to a venture capital company in New York wanting to know about RoHS impact. The project you are working on since October and which has had three [...]